What have you fettled today?

[ElyDave]

Fettled all my bolts, nuts, washers and similar odds and ends into one Wilko odds and ends holder. Sorted by size – mostly...

Did the same a few weeks ago during the general shed/gym/office fettling. Handy little boxes aren't they.

[T42]

Spent most of the day unpacking and setting up my new bandsaw. Not done by a long chalk - I decided that it needed to be higher so now I'm altering the stand I built for the old one. First real carpentry I've done for maybe 10 years.

[Ruthie]

Fettled the u-bend under the kitchen sink.  There was a dinner knife in there.  Not even my dinner knife, it must have been there longer than a year.

It was disgusting in there.  At least it's draining now.

[Kim]

That's right up there with that time I found some mystery trousers in the iceberg at the back of the freezer.   

[BrianI]

Refitted the nice on one 26er Chromoly fork to my old vintage 2011 Btwin Rockrider 5.3 .

Much nicer than the comedy "suspension" fork which was pretty much worn out. I tend not do do any gnarly off roading now, so rigid mtb will suit me fine. Kind of like a 26er flat barred gravel grinder...

I also put the 26*1.75 Schwalbe land cruisers back on, as i found the vittoria sagauros pretty rubbish faerie resistance wise.
Marathon Mondials look good, if expensive...


Next upgrades are the wheels, as the bearings sound rough. A pair of mavic crossrides or something 26" disc? Frame can take max 2.1" tyres

And properly sized pclips so i can refit the pannier rack (ive managed to strip the seat stay rack mounts

[Torslanda]

If the mounts are external then use overlength bolts with nyloc nuts, if they're inserts in the tube ('rivnuts' or 'nutserts') they should be relatively easy to change. Post a picture or two...?

[BrianI]

An interior bike holder upperer for the car:



Although after taking that photo, and trying it in the car, I removed the rear most plank for a better fit in the lower boot area.

[BrianI]

If the mounts are external then use overlength bolts with nyloc nuts, if they're inserts in the tube ('rivnuts' or 'nutserts') they should be relatively easy to change. Post a picture or two...?

I'm pretty sure they are rivnuts.  Not sure how easy they would be to replace, without the rivnut tool?  Hence my option of rubber coated pclips. At most the rack will be carrying rackpack rather than full touring panniers.

[rogerzilla]

The Brompton fettling on Saturday has eliminated the odd creak when pedalling, which turned out to be the chain just kissing the chain tensioner.  I swapped the spacers around on the sprocket and jockey wheels to move it all inboard a bit.  Must check chainline again but 1/16" difference will probably be taken up when I retighten the cranks on the BB (they were new cranks).

[Torslanda]

If the mounts are external then use overlength bolts with nyloc nuts, if they're inserts in the tube ('rivnuts' or 'nutserts') they should be relatively easy to change. Post a picture or two...?

I'm pretty sure they are rivnuts.  Not sure how easy they would be to replace, without the rivnut tool?  Hence my option of rubber coated pclips. At most the rack will be carrying rackpack rather than full touring panniers.

I bought the tool - posh pop riveter - online for about 12 quid. The inserts are really cheap and easy to fit.

[hatler]

I bought the tool - posh pop riveter - online for about 12 quid. The inserts are really cheap and easy to fit.

Ooo. Where from ?

[BrianI]

I bought the tool - posh pop riveter - online for about 12 quid. The inserts are really cheap and easy to fit.

Ooo. Where from ?

+1

[Torslanda]

Apols for ebay links Setting tool

Rivnuts - M5 @ £2.25 for 10

Usual caveats, no connection etc but there's loads of them...

[hatler]

Apols for ebay links Setting tool

Rivnuts - M5 @ £2.25 for 10

Usual caveats, no connection etc but there's loads of them...

Thank you !!

[T42]

Had another grind at my hoary old plane blade using Paul Sellers' method: successive sheets of abrasive clamped to the bench and (in my case) a honing guide. Long business and it goes through emery cloth like smoke.  The Scary Sharp system looks cheap at the outset but at 50-80 cents a sheet sharpening a couple of plane blades would cost as much as a half-decent stone.

BTW, you'd think something as simple as a honing guide would be easy to get right but the Stanley ones are crap. Thinking of breaking the piggy-bank and getting a Veritas diamond block & guide, but €€€.

[Vince]

BTW, you'd think something as simple as a honing guide would be easy to get right but the Stanley ones are crap.

There are two different Stanley honing guides. One with cast sides that clamp each side of the blade and has a single metal roller in the middle. There is also a cheaper looking one made of bent steel where the blade is clamped from above by a couple of bolts. This has two rollers or a single roller across the width of the guide. The second is my preferred one as it keeps the blade horizontal and it has a handy flip out set up guide.

[T42]

The second one is all our local DIY supermarket had. Yes the blade stays horizontal but with the double clamp it's easy to move the blade off-square as you tighten it, and while you're fiddling it back square it drifts off the angle you've set.  I'm looking at a Veritas guide but my £35 looks very nice as well.

[BrianI]

Apols for ebay links Setting tool
Rivnuts - M5 @ £2.25 for 10

Usual caveats, no connection etc but there's loads of them...

Ah, looks like I shan't be needing them now as i think I've wrecked my decathlon mtbso's frame. I thought I'd try drilling out the rivnut. Drilling away i go, i only end up drilling right through the seat stay and out the other side

Now i could put a bolt right through for fitting the rack,but my fear is I've weakened the seat stay too much... 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Well, that'll remind you to be more careful with power tools in future.

If you think about it, a rivnut is just a hole in a tube. Seatstays are just about the least stressed tubes in bike frames and have pretty much the most forgiving failure mode.

If the edges of the holes are smoothed nicely with a round file and the remaining tube section is still pretty meaty, I might be inclined to keep riding it after sealing up the redundant hole. A picture would help.

[BrianI]

Well, that'll remind you to be more careful with power tools in future.

If you think about it, a rivnut is just a hole in a tube. Seatstays are just about the least stressed tubes in bike frames and have pretty much the most forgiving failure mode.

If the edges of the holes are smoothed nicely with a round file and the remaining tube section is still pretty meaty, I might be inclined to keep riding it after sealing up the redundant hole. A picture would help.

Hmm, so tidying up the holes, then using them to put a bolt straight through for the rack stays? And then tighten the rack stays *just* enough, and not too tight to crush the seat stays... 

Although, having said that a shiny new mtb does seem tempting, considering the decathlon mtbso is needing a fair bit of parts replaced, drive train / wheels etc.... 

[citoyen]

Finally got round to cutting down the steerer on my Felt. Fork is carbon but I'd always assumed it was an alloy steerer. Turns out it's all carbon.

I've only had the bike 9 years. How on earth have I not noticed that before?

[Gattopardo]

Fettled the gears and brakes on the bike I have for sale, new inner cables have stretched.

Two days of fettling to the the steamroller, striping the bike down even the brake calipers. General cleaning and re greasing with waterproof grease.  Even popped seal off the headset bearings and regreased them.  Deciding if I should put new tyres on or not, especially as I'm going from 25 to 23

[Jaded]

I've made a timelapse camera mount for turning the camera during filming. £3.99 it cost.

Using Sugru (cost not factored in) the mounting plate that comes in the GoPro box that you throw away and an egg timer. And a Dremel.

[Kim]

Fettled a carload of folders, paper/cardboard and electro-tqt to the tip.  This is actually the culmination of about a week of on-and-off sorting and tidying.

(I drove an old-fashioned car, with a clutch and a gearbox and an internal combustion engine (but the conspicuous absence of a proper handbrake) and it didn't go too horribly wrong.  Main problem was I kept forgetting to change down to 1st when I stopped at junctions, and made life difficult for myself pulling away in 2nd.)

[Feanor]

Main problem was I kept forgetting to change down to 1st when I stopped at junctions, and made life difficult for myself pulling away in 2nd.)

I'd have expected your inner recumbantist to have that as second nature!